The world will always remember actors Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll for their historic contributions to film and television. They made history and opened doors for future generations of actors, including Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Oh, and did we mention they were both drop-dead gorgeous? But what you may not know is that Poitier and Carroll were entwined in a steamy nine-year romantic affair that ended with hurt feelings, broken marriages and broken promises. Trust us, this story is way juicier than anything they ever did on screen.
This is the story of Diahann Carroll and Sidney Poitier’s love affair.
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A Groundbreaking Actress
Born July 17, 1935 in New York City, Diahann Carroll broke barriers for Black women on the stage and screen.
In 1968, she became the first Black actress to land a lead role in a television series, when she was cast as the star of “Julia,” a show about a widowed single mother trying to raise her young son while working as a registered nurse. The role earned Carroll a Golden Globe in 1968 and an Emmy nomination in 1969.
Carroll was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1974 film Claudine. But 80s babies will remember her role as Dominique Deveraux in the nighttime soap “Dynasty,” a diva that could give any Real Housewife a run for their money.
The First Black Male Movie Star
Born February 20, 1927 in Miami, Florida, Sidney Poitier is considered the first Black male movie star. After a stint in the United States Army, the Bahamian-American got his start acting at the American Negro Theater in New York City. As a working actor, Poitier was known for refusing roles that reinforced racial stereotypes. That decision would pay off. Poitier made history in 1963 as the first Black actor to win a Best Actor Oscar for his role in “Lilies of the Field.”
A Musical Meeting
Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll first met in 1959, when the pair were cast as costars in the movie musical “Porgy & Bess.” Although both actors were married – Poitier to his first wife, Juanita Hardy and Carroll to her first husband, record producer Monte Kay – their attraction was undeniable.
Things were even more complicated for the actors, who both had children with their respective spouses. Poitier and Hardy had four daughters, while Carroll had one daughter with Kay.
“One of the Brightest Women I Had Ever Known”
In a 1980 interview with PEOPLE, Poitier described his attraction to Carroll as instant, adding that despite his marital status, he didn’t waste time shooting his shot.
“We had not been on the set of Porgy and Bess in 1959 more than a few days when I realized that she was unique,” he said. “She had fantastic cheekbones, perfect teeth and dark, mysterious eyes. She was confident, inviting, sensuous—and she moved with a rhythm that absolutely tantalized me. I invited her to dinner, telling her that since we were both married we would talk about our absent loved ones. And we did. I acted very, very gentlemanly for weeks, but halfway through the picture we fell in love. As I got to know her, I realized she was one of the brightest women I had ever known.”
“Paris Blues”
Poitier and Carroll acted together again in the romantic film “Paris Blues.” In the movie, Poitier played a jazz musician who was living his best life in Paris until he was forced to make a choice between his career and his personal life after falling in love with an American tourist (Carroll). It wouldn’t be long before Poitier was forced to face a similarly difficult choice with Carroll in real life.
A Tale as Old as Time
Things took a dramatic turn for the actors after Poitier made a high-takes proposition to Carroll in 1963.
In her 2008 memoir, “The Legs Are the Last To Go,” Carroll wrote that Poitier convinced her to leave her husband and promised he would leave his wife so they could go public with their relationship.
The Best Made Plans
Carroll kept her end of the bargain and left Kay for a life with Poitier. But just as she and her daughter were preparing to move into the New York City apartment Poitier bought for them to share, he called her with devastating news.
“I was only home a few days when he called to say his wife was having second thoughts. Our wedding plans would have to be postponed,” Carroll wrote in her memoir. “When the apartment was ready and I was about to move my daughter in with me, Sidney told me he didn’t want her there.”
Oh, It Gets Worse
If ghosting her wasn’t bad enough, Carroll said Poitier had the nerve to lock her out of their would-be love nest and ask her to reimburse him for the place.
“He changed the locks so I couldn’t get in. Then he made me write him a check to offset his purchase and decorating costs. I did as I was told, submissive and desperate,” she wrote.
Incurable Guilt
Although Poitier wasn’t ready to leave his wife for Diahann Carroll, his affair would eventually lead to the end of his 15-year marriage to Juanita Hardy. In 1965, Poitier and Hardy called it quits. Looking back on his actions, Poitier says he was left with mounds of guilt.
“The guilt of that was something that 11 years of psychotherapy couldn’t ‘cure,” he wrote in his 2007 memoir, “The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography.”
Finding Love Again
After his marriage to Juanita Hardy ended, it didn’t take Poitier long to find love again. In 1976, he wed Canadian actress Joanna Shimkus. The couple, who were married until Poitier’s death in 2022, had two daughters together, Anika and Sydney.
In an interview for a PBS documentary, Shimkus talked about what made her fall for the Oscar winner – spoiler alert: it wasn’t just his looks.
“The thing that attracted me to him the most, I think, is his integrity and his honesty [and] his loyalty to his family. He’s just an amazing human being. He’s just a good, good, good person,” she said. “And he’s cute too, yes!”
Three More Marriages
Although she never ended up with Sidney Poitier, Diahann Carroll was married three more times before she passed away in 2019 – to businessman Fred Glusman in 1973, magazine editor Robert DeLeon from 1975 to 1977 and singer Vic Damone from 1987 to 1996. She was also engaged to the British journalist David Frost from 1971 to 1973.
A Hopeless Romantic
Looking back on her relationships, Carroll said she learned that she was a hopeless romantic, which doesn’t exactly make it easy to have long-term love.
“It’s immature, my romanticism. It will not sustain a relationship. I know that now. I think I could have been a good wife at some point, but obviously I didn’t need that as much as I need my work,” she told NPR in 2008
Becoming Friends
Although their love affair didn’t work out, time healed their wounds, and the two found their way back to being amicable. “Sidney and I are now friends. That’s a lovely thing that comes as you age — forgiveness and perhaps a relaxing of standards.” Carroll wrote in her memoir.
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